Fire, Fire, Put Pants on that Liar!

Kevin Coolidge

“A Man spends many sleepless nights on the riverbank trying to understand women and many sleepless nights in bed trying to understand carp.”


The mighty Thor had Mjolner, King Arthur had Excalibur, and Wyatt Earp had his Buntline Special. Natural born storyteller Paul Lepp has the Monster Stick. The Monster Stick, a remarkable fishing pole of mythical proportions, is Paul’s nine-foot, surf-casting rod full of six miles of brand new, 50-pound test Stren Carp cord with 20 pound, custom made, stainless steel, slip-sliding sinkers. The Monster Stick, born of magic, baptized in the rivers of West Virginia, and able snag DC-10’s or lunker-sized catfish.

Meet Paul and Bil Lepp, natural born storytellers and two repeat winners of the West Virginia State Liars’ Contest. There’s Bil’s dog, Buck, a thirty-seven inch irony, whose mother was a German Sheppard, and whose father was a prolific and extremely determined Basset hound. Buck can pull you through a knothole, and hold his own against a monster truck, but is a gun-shy hunting dog who can’t track a bunny rabbit in a shoebox. Between the Monster Stick, and Buck, you get an original bunch of hilarious short stories and tall tales that you’ll want to share with everyone from your poker buddies to your preacher.

The West Virginia State Liars’ Contest is held every year on Memorial Day weekend. The contest is only open to West Virginia residents. The “lies” should be short stories (humorous, dramatic, supernatural, etc.) with a maximum length of 3 to 5 minutes. The winner receives a golden shovel. You can imagine why. Paul Lepp won six “Biggest Liar” titles before his death in 1998, and his brother Bil Lepp has taken first place five times since he first entered in 1990, proving that lightning – or at least lying – does sometimes strike twice.

Bil Lep, a former Methodist preacher, has published a collection of stories with his brother called The Monster Stick & Other Appalachian Tall Tales. Generally, the fishing stories are Paul’s and the dog tales Bil’s. These twenty three tales have lots to offer on women and carp, more than a little on dogs, trains and cars, a considerable amount on hunting, and more politics than shows on the surface. There’s plenty to keep a thinking man laughing and awake at night.

In his follow-up, Inept: Impaired: Overwhelmed -- Tall Tales from West Virginia and Beyond, Bil Lepp spins more tales of his super-dog Buck, introduces us to his best friend, Skeeter Barth, and keeps a smile on your face with stories about catfish-grabblin’, summer camp, moose-trappin’, and that misunderstood mishap with the FBI. In these books, imagination is the ammunition, and Paul and Bil Lepp have more than most…